Kaka, the Brazilian football legend, has spoken out about his divorce in 2015, responding to a strange claim made by his ex-wife.

Kaka married his childhood sweetheart Caroline Celico, while playing for AC Milan in 2005 and they had a son and daughter together, before splitting a decade later.

Last week, it was reported that Celico claimed she left the marriage, because “he was too perfect for me”.

But Kaka, now 41, speaking on a podcast, as reported by Spanish outlet Sport, insists he did everything he could to avoid the split.

He said: “In 2015 I was married, and my wife at the time decided she didn’t want to be married anymore.

“She said, ‘I’m not happy and I attribute my unhappiness to marriage’.

“I was living in the United States, and she asked to go back to Brazil.

“Her words were, ‘I want to go back to Brazil, I want to live there and I don’t want to be married anymore’.”